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I was sent these muay thai pads by Elite Sports to try out.  I have never used any equipment from Elite Sports before, and I was not paid anything for this review.  Rather, they apparently came across my website and asked me if I would try out one of their products and give them a review.  Since I haven’t really used muay thai pads in the past I was eager to give these a try and see how they worked.

Initially I will note that I was drawn to the colors, as I thought the red and black looked sharp.  When I first received them I noticed that they seemed to be well constructed, with some nice strong handles, and hook and loop arm straps.  As I didn’t have anyone to hold the pads for me when I first got them, I used an old martial arts belt and tied them to my BOB bag and tried various punches and kicks on them with bare hands and feet, and even took my escrima sticks and hammered away on them.  The pads are definitely a bit stiff (and I have been told that’s normal until you break them in), and while they felt a bit hard initially, I had no issues with bare knuckle strikes.   I then tried them on the ground with various elbow strikes. Again, while a bit hard, I could still fire plenty of elbow strikes into the pad and didn’t suffer any injuries.

While my initial use of these pads went well, I really needed to try them out with someone else holding them, so they could be kicked and punched as they were intended.  Turns out that not two weeks after I received the pads I learned of a new muay thai class being offered at Fit 2 Defend in Lake Bluff.  So when the time came to attend this tester class, I brought along my gloves and new pads.  Working with a partner in the class I found the pads worked very well.  Punching them with gloves was no problem at all, they worked fine.  We then transitioned to kicks, and I kicked the pads hard, and found even though they were a bit stiff, I could kick them without issue.  The kicking seemed to help finally start getting them broken in a bit more, which I took as a good sign.  Additionally, I also found that the hand grips were comfortable to hold, while the hook and loop straps kept them securely attached to my arms when holding for my partner.

All in all I have found them to be quality product, that looks good, and I think they should hold up over time.  After I have additional time banging away on the pads, I will post additional thoughts.  Thank you Elite Sports!